Comforts of the Afterlife
by pammazola
Summary: Sequel to The Crossing of Two Souls. AU. Sesshomaru and Rin meet once more, nearly ten years after they share a secret kiss. But how can they be together, now that Rin is married?


_**Comforts of the Afterlife**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. All rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.**

**A/N: This was a requested sequel to my fic **_**The Crossing of Two Souls**_**. Enjoy! **

**WARNING: Implied lemons and character deaths. Happy ending though (at least I think so)! Anything you read in italics is from the prequel story!**

**~oOo~**

Nothing can stop the rain, not when it pours from the Heavens, drenching the earth in its leftover streams of sadness. One does not feel anymore lost than on nights as this. He is alive, but not living. He is complete, yet not whole. How to survive, on his own, when that miserable heart remains separate, aches for that other half of his soul. What prevents him from running to her, if she can ease that excruciating angst that rakes his insides until they bleed? How would he love her, to make up for the eternity that he could not?

Sesshomaru contemplates this, every day since he has left her.

~oOo~

Rin wonders what happiness is like.

She has comfort, lives in a grand house with a loving husband and child. She does not work, but stays home to care for their little one. They are who she lives for, or so Rin tells herself. What else is there for her in this life, aside from her family? Her husband returns home from a long day at the office, expecting dinner on the table promptly at six o' clock. Rin does not eat, instead coaxes her baby into trying some new vegetables. Then she clears the table, straightens up whatever small mess is left in the kitchen, and gives the baby a bath. The Little One squeals in protest, as she expects him to, but Rin is a patient mother, her voice harmonic, and it soothes him to calmness. The bubbles that float upon the surface of the water captures his interest, and he smiles.

After he is clean, Rin puts him to bed, her sweet child. He looks very much like his father; midnight black hair, round-freckled cheeks. One of her slim fingers lightly traces his brow. "Good night."

Rin returns to her husband, who only cares for one thing after a strenuous day of work. As she bares herself to his eager eyes, she thinks about how she has come to be here. This man had met her at Kagome's college graduation party. He is a family friend of the Higurashis, as she is, and had taken to Rin almost instantly. He flaunted his wealth, his good looks, and she, having no set path for her life or career, went willingly into his arms.

He treats her well enough and provides for his family. The only thing he asks in return is a submissive wife when he takes her to bed. She thinks he is more than generous. But sometimes, as he touches her like now, Rin pretends the tan, calloused hands are long, slender, and pale…

After he has sated himself with Rin's body, her husband lightly kisses her temple before pulling the covers over them, and drifts into an instant deep sleep.

The rain pours down to the earth in great wet sheets outside their bedroom window.

And Rin wonders when she will be happy again.

~oOo~

He does not love her.

He does not even know her. There have been so many women that have come to him; they all look no different now.

When will he tire of this lifestyle? Sesshomaru has never thought he would be here, waking up to a new face each morning, yet would never be satisfied unless one of those faces belonged to _her_. Ten years ago he was just as much of a wanderer, but at peace. The gaping, empty void within him had yet to rip him in two. He had yet to know her, to love her, and he endured.

Rin was always his sunshine, the brilliant smile Sesshomaru yearns to frame into his memory forever. They were two beings that shared the same passion, and strangers, an experiment of the Fates. Nothing could have stopped them from loving each other. Somewhere in the making of the Universe, the Kami had thought the kindness of a human girl could tame the fearsome youkai killer, and warm him. His hand would learn the tenderness of a woman's body…

…If she was a woman. Ten years ago, Rin had been little more than a fledgling at the grand age of thirteen years. And Sesshomaru had fallen for her.

That is why he left. A young girl should not have to grow up in the company of an adult lover. It was wrong, and illegal, but most importantly, just painfully cruel.

The void is opened, and Sesshomaru is beginning to lose himself to grief. Is she happy? How is she fairing? Does she think of him every single night, just as he does her?

He rises, leaving the unknown woman still slumbering in his bed, and begins to dress for work.

~oOo~

_"Sesshomaru-sama!" she called to him one morning, running full sprint down the sidewalk. He frowned at her rashness. It was pouring rain, yet she did not carry an umbrella, and surely her socks in the shoes she wore were soaked. He made his displeasure known._

Rin is alone at the bus stop, shivering against the cold rain, remembering him. Sesshomaru had left her standing on this very corner, when she was thirteen. It was the day after he'd kissed her in the rain. No goodbyes, no last words. He just left.

Rin tells herself she has long since been over him, but that is not entirely true. The arrival of the bus joints her painfully back to reality, and she begins climbing the steps, grasping the edges of the door so she may pull herself inside.

Her young toddler has been left in a daycare, where he may play with other children his age while she takes care of the strenuous task of shopping for household essentials and other materials her husband has written on the list she found clipped to the fridge. 'I love you,' he added along the bottom in his neat manuscript.

She sighed, pulling her raincoat tightly around her, looking around for an empty seat.

_He sighed, moving closer to bring her under his umbrella, bending down to ensure she was completely beneath it. The wind blew rapidly, nearly drenching them both, but Rin seemed not to mind. The way his black jacket danced around them made her feel safe and secure. She was drawn closer to the warmth of his body._

As usual, the bus is nearly filled to its brim, forcing Rin to carefully maneuver her way past clusters of people who lay back in their seats with their feet blocking the aisle. "Excuse me," she murmurs, but not before tripping over a pair of a man's polished black shoes. Her eyes squint closed, preparing for the bombardment of people to descend on her from behind as she falls forward.

A pair of hands catches her shoulders.

"I've got you."

_A touch of pink tinted her cheeks._

_"Se – Sesshomaru-sama…" she whispered, but maintained firm eye contact with him. He admired the amount of courage it must have taken her to say these next words: "Please, will you kiss me?"_

Fate has a funny way of bringing two lovers together.

It's cruel, so painstaking cruel.

_She tasted nice, extraordinarily pleasant for a ningen. Typically, he hated sugary things, but her sweetness was incredibly enticing, almost to the point he was tempted to lick her lips to find more of the substance…_

Rin is married now, with a husband and son. She cannot be with Sesshomaru, no matter how dearly she wishes for it to be so.

Even as they stare at each other, torn between the impulse to move away or embrace the other half of their soul, they realize despite the closeness of their heartbeats, they are millions of miles beyond the other's reach.

Amber eyes hungrily devour every inch of her face, feasting on the beauty he has been deprived of for ten years.

"Sesshomaru-sama..." Rin sounds afraid.

He leans in closer to her, and smiles sincerely. It is the saddest thing she has ever seen.

A long, pale finger lifts her chin. "…I wanted… to come back…"

"I waited for you." Her eyes rim with unshed tears as she hears her own voice speak. "I waited for you until I was nearly eighteen. I couldn't anymore."

Sesshomaru nods his understanding, gently pressing his forehead to hers. "It doesn't matter. I'll wait for _you_… in another life." He wants badly to kiss her again…

"I love you, Sesshomaru-sama. I always have."

Another sad smile.

~oOo~

**Driver in Deadly Tokyo Bus Crash Denies Guilt**

TOKYO - The driver of a city bus sliced end-to-end in a June crash that killed 15 people was charged Thursday with manslaughter and reckless driving after prosecutors said he was seriously sleep-deprived and drove anyway.

Sato Isamu pleaded not guilty in court to 15 counts of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. He also pleaded not guilty to charges of reckless driving and assault related to 20 other passengers who were seriously injured. He was being held on $250,000 bail.

The bus ran off Highway 34 at daybreak on June 12. The crash killed 15 people, mostly Japanese men and women under the age of 40 who were regulars in riding this bus, and injured 20 others.

A preliminary report by the Safety Board said the bus veered to the right, crossed the shoulder, hit a barrier and traveled 480 feet as it fell over. Then it slid into a vertical sign support that sheared through the bus at the window line.

Prosecutors detailed some of the injuries suffered in the crash, including one passenger who raised his arms up to protect a woman, resulting in both of his limbs being shorn off.

Sato was also charged with driving a vehicle without a valid license, after prosecutors said he had a suspended license since 1999 and had wrongly obtained another one using an alias.

After the indictment was announced, Inspector General Tanaka Kasumi released a separate investigative report finding the driver was able to exploit weaknesses in the state regulatory system as he kept driving despite previous license suspensions, his use of an alias and a criminal record.

"Tokyo passengers and the public at large deserve to have the utmost confidence in the fitness and qualifications of bus drivers," Tanaka said. "There needs to be a higher level of scrutiny for licensing commercial bus drivers in this state."

~oOo~

Finally. He can hold her.

"_My Rin…"_

"_C'mon, Maru!" _she laughs, pulling at his hand. _"Don't get left behind!"_ Her hand gently squeezes his. _"I'm kind of scared… be with me, please?_"

Sesshomaru looks towards the light, the one she was pointing to with a slender finger. Everything has happened so fast…

At last. He can have Rin.

"_My Rin…" _Sesshomaru helps her take the first step. Their feet leave the pavement…

…for the afterlife.

~oOo~

**A/N: Not my best work, this was kind of spur of the moment for me. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
